This invention relates to a housing apparatus to house a tagging gun which affixes tags to garments by means of tag fasteners of the "bar lock" or similar type.
Clothing manufactures generally have a need to affix tags to clothing. The tags contain such information as size, price, style, color, inventory control numbers and other such similar information. The tags are affixed to the garments by the use of a tag fastener with the fastener being dispensed into the garment by some form of tagging apparatus.
Two common apparatus are available for use in dispensing the tag fastener into the garment. The first and more basic method is by the use of a common hand-held tagging gun. The tagging gun is readily available, inexpensive to obtain and is simple and straight-forward to operate. Despite these benefits, the tagging gun suffers many drawbacks. In order to operate the gun the operator must place the gun in one hand and the garment in the other, then position the gun to the appropriate place on the garment and squeeze the trigger of the tagging gun. As one hand is continually occupied by the tagging gun, the operator has but one free hand with which to manipulate the garment. This proves to be an inefficient method of tagging. Whenever the tagging gun is lifted up the possibility exists that the operator retrieves the gun by the needle end thereby causing injury. Whenever the tagging gun is placed back upon the work station the possibility exists that it is placed down on the needle end or dropped thereby causing damage to the gun. Through constant holding and squeezing of the tagging gun trigger, operator fatigue quickly sets in.
In order to alleviate the problems associated with hand-held tagging guns, automated tagging apparatus have been proposed. Illustrative of the previously proposed automated apparatus is that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,781,318, issued Nov. 1, 1988 to Meyers. Such apparatus provide means for securing the fastener dispensing device in a fixed position and for effecting the automatic operation of the apparatus by means of actuating a readily accessible switch. This type of apparatus enhances productivity by freeing both hands of the operator and eliminating the necessity of the operator having to hold and squeeze the tagging gun trigger. This type of apparatus eliminates the possibility of an operator grabbing a needle and also eliminates damage to the tagging dispenser by eliminating the possibility of dropping the dispenser or placing it down on the needle end.
While these types of apparatus can greatly increase the speed, safety and efficiency of the tagging process, they suffer from several shortcomings. Due to the complexity of the apparatus, these machines are difficult to manufacture and assemble. As this type of apparatus uses a proprietary tag dispensing unit, added expense is realized in manufacturing and maintaining the device. With many moving parts, repairs can be frequent and costly. This situation can be aggravated if the broken part needs to be ordered from the manufacturer and the tag dispensing unit is nonfunctional until arrival of the replacement part. A final disadvantage is that this type of apparatus must be modified each time a fastener of a different size is necessary.
The present invention overcomes the shortcomings of both types of methods previously proposed. The present invention securely houses a readily available tagging gun in a secure and stationary position, thereby freeing both hands of the operator and also eliminating the necessity of the operator holding and squeezing the tagging gun trigger, and also eliminating the possibility of either grabbing the tagging gun needle or dropping the gun onto the floor. The present invention consists of a simple design utilizing a minimal number of moving parts. This will substantially reduce manufacture and assembly costs of the invention. As the invention utilizes a minimal number of moving parts, all constructed of common materials, both machine down-time and repair costs will be reduced. Should the invention malfunction, the tagging gun can be used manually, if necessary, during the pendency of the repairs. As the invention accepts a readily available commercial tagging gun, the costs associated with proprietary tagging fasteners is eliminated, as is the need to modify the tagging gun to accept fasteners of a different type.
Prior techniques do not suggest the present inventive combination of component elements as disclosed and claimed herein. The present invention achieves its intended purposes, objectives and advantages over the prior devices through a new, useful and non-obvious combination of component elements, which is simple to use, with the utilization of a minimum number of functioning parts, at a reasonable cost to manufacture, assemble, test and by employing only readily available material.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive, portable, and user-friendly housing apparatus for securely housing any conventional readily available tagging gun which readily accepts fasteners of any size, and means for automatic hands free operation of the tagging gun.
Another object of the invention is that the apparatus be of simple design, being constructed of inexpensive and common and readily available parts and have a minimal number of internal moving parts.
A final object of this invention to be specifically enumerated herein is to provide a housing apparatus and method for a conventional tagging gun in accordance with the proceeding objects and which will conform to conventional forms of manufacture, be of simple construction and easy to use so as to provide a device that would be economically feasible, long lasting and relatively trouble free in operation.
The foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent objects of the invention. These objects should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the intended invention. Many other beneficial results can be obtained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the invention within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the summary of the invention and the detailed description of the preferred embodiments in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.